Mack’s ethics trial set Aug.15

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, July 9, 2002 | 11 a.m.

Las Vegas Councilman Michael Mack will go to trial Aug. 15 on misdemeanor charges that he knowingly violated the city's ethics code on five occasions.

Municipal Judge Bert Brown, during a pretrial hearing this morning, finalized the date after attorneys for both sides said they were prepared to move forward. Brown also set aside Aug. 16 if the trial lasts longer than one day.

The Las Vegas Ethics Review Board ruled in February that Mack knowingly violated the city's ethics code when he voted to postpone and ultimately deny a car dealership application in the northwest without disclosing he owed $57,000 to a rival car dealer. The board directed its attorney, John Graves Jr., to prosecute Mack in Municipal Court.

If he is found guilty, Mack, who was elected in 2001, would be removed from office and face possible fines or jail.

Mack's attorney, Richard Wright, has argued that the Las Vegas City Council had no authority to adopt a city code that makes a violation of the city's ethics code a misdemeanor.

Brown ruled in May that the council was within its authority when it gave the ethics board the power to find when misdemeanor violations of the code have occurred and order prosecution of an elected official.

Wright said this morning that he has filed a motion in District Court asking a judge to review Brown's decision, but the hearing was posponed until after Mack's trial.